Board Approves Austere Budget for 2009-10
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March 31, 2009 – The Board of Education approved the 2009-10 operating budget for the Wake County Public School System making $115,000 in cuts to the austere budget they received March 3 from Superintendent Del Burns.
The board made reductions of:
- $246,833 by reducing school bus purchases from 17 to 13 buses
- $123,029 by removing H6 from the early hires, task assignment and staff development for new schools case
- $3,220 by removing board member fee increases that had been planned for 2009-10
The board added $257,147 for additional bus drivers. The balance of these changes reduces the 2009-10 operating budget by $115,935.
Approval of the budget followed board discussions of the superintendent’s proposal in a series of work sessions and a public hearing on March 17.
The board budget now goes to the Wake County Board of Commissioners who will approve a county budget and establish the county tax rate for 2009-10 that will include the school system operating budget. If there is any difference in funding approved for the schools, the school board would reconcile its budget.
The school system budget will be affected by the state and county budgets. The school system budget is funded from three main sources: 62 percent by the state, 31 percent by Wake County and seven percent by the federal government.
At the county level, there’s a $14 million shortfall in revenue compared to the current year without adding any additional expenditures. At the state level, Governor Purdue has asked budget managers to consider reductions of 3-7 percent (February 2009 SBE Memo). If implemented, this reduction in state funding would call for between $20-60 million in cuts to WCPSS alone. It is widely anticipated that state and federal budgets will not be approved until after the new school year begins.
Superintendent Burns says steps taken by the school system this year to reduce school system spending will help, but he’s directed more drastic steps instructing principals to fill only 95 percent of the school-based positions for the start of the school year and making staff on terminating contracts aware that renewal will await approval of the state budget.
This means that schools will be prepared for the beginning of the school year while the system will have the financial flexibility to absorb funding cuts and reduce the possibility of staff layoffs once the school year begins. If WCPSS did not take this proactive approach and allowed schools to hire 100 percent of their staff and state and federal budgets experienced shortfalls, lay offs could result.
WCPSS has 1,496 part- and full-time employees on contracts that expire at the end of the school year or the fiscal year. Dr. Burns indicated that the shortfall from state or county budgets could result in the school system not rehiring some staff on these terminating contracts.
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